Complex Projects Assessment. The Impact of Built Environment on Healthcare Staff Wellbeing

Abstract

Projects, plans and programmes for complex environments such as healthcare facilities need to be designed with specific consideration of the multitude of users, technologies and policies in order to address a sustainable and resilient development. Several Evidence Based Design (EBD) studies highlight the deep interrelation between built and natural systems with human or organizations-related outcomes, but the effect on healthcare staff such as Medical Doctors (MD) is still underexplored. The paper investigates the assessment of self-reported satisfaction and wellbeing of MDs in healthcare facilities. A multidimensional assessment model composed of 53 Likert scale questions has been developed from literature review and existing tools, and submitted to a statistically significant sample of workers in 2 different office settings of an Italian hospital. Since MDs spend a considerable amount of their working time in offices, the qualities of such space are very important. The study highlights and confirms that localization, indoor environment, natural and artificial light are relevant drivers for staff satisfaction and wellbeing. Further investigations on a wider and diverse sample are encouraged.